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Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

Yeah, I saw that on DvD's page too, looks like more to look for while shopping, that's always fine by me. More transformers is only a good thing. I wish basics were a buck cheaper, I'd be more inclined to buy repaints like Brushguard and the street speed team, but at $7 they're almost the price of a deluxe.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

I didn't know about the price reduction, but I picked up Evac at WM last night and he was indeed $14.97 (I didn't notice till I got home and looked at the receipt).

Evac is pretty cool, the alt mode is good and the only real complaints I have, besides the colorscheme which applies to bot mode as well, is that viewed from the side there are 2 medium-small gaps near the back of the body, and the bot hips are exposed. Other than that, the helicopter looks good, it's rare to get a non-military copter in the TF line but this one delivers very well, the landing gear is retractable and the tail rotors spin, and with the missiles set aside the launchers look like propulsion jets which is good, plus the gimmick is straightforward and works well. Transformation is pretty neat, not at all like other copter TFs, satisfying and uses parts well, even the tail isn't just a big stick of kibble. Bot mode is also cool, a good amount of articulation, the forearm gimmicks aren't overwhelming, and the backpack weapon can fold up behind his head to aim into the sky or up above his head like a hat to fire straight ahead. All in all, Evac is a great bot, a cool transformation, and a good copter.

One odd thing about Evac, it's not mentioned in his instructions but his legs telescope down 7mm, just enough to make his legs seem overly long. However, this has 1 advantage, with the legs extended, the blade weapon can go fully vertical with his arm straight down.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

Re: Transformers: Energon & Beyond

I paid $14.24, not 14.97 like I thought, just like on that page of theirs. Great deal!

Here's my review of Evac, and I finally got around to reviewing sucko, I mean, Leobreaker...

TF:CY Evac - Alt mode is pretty cool, so let me get this out of the way quick: the only things I don't like are the colorscheme (not loud tho', just kinda "meh"), and from the side there are a couple small gaps in the mid-body - the rear of which could have been filled easily by the back of the waist piece. Overall, the alt mode isn't a war machine, so it has cleaner lines and uses them well, the fold-up landing gear is a good touch, and the key gimmick - sans missiles - doesn't look out of place and works nicely making the jet thrusters flip around to become forward-firing guns; the other gimmicks, the gear-driven rotor and the rescue winch, work well too but I wish the rescue rope was longer, the winch body rotates and has the Autobot logo on it. The copter's rotors don't lock into place as well as I'd like, but it's not usually a problem as long as they don't hit anything. Alt mode is solid when everything's together, and I already had a 3-foot fall and nothing broke.

Transformation is pretty cool, very different from other TF copters, the cockpit becomes the legs while the upper fuselage and engine becomes the arms. The waist and shoulders require a bit of strength to get locked down, but better too hard than too weak. I like the slide-up head and how the backpack is formed, the split-apart tail becoming the cape, it's all quite satisfying. Oddly, the instructions don't mention it, but the legs telescope down less than a centimeter, I think so that the removable copter blade mounted on the forearm can rotate when his arm is down without hitting the ground, but the legs look too long this way so I don't prefer it.

Bot mode is nifty, kinda big boots but not outrageous, the overall look is fairly straightforward bot territory with nothing crazy or weird, the figure is solid with no floppy parts and unlike most TF copters no useless stick tail that they don't know what to do with; plus, the key gimmick engine half becomes a jetpack. The winch and spinning rotors gimmick are permanently attached to the sides of each arm, but they don't overwhelm and they both can rotate. The colors add more blue to the balance, but the legs keep it looking mostly orange; the face is light orange paint surrounded by light blue plastic and has dark blue light-piped eyes, they look very dark when "off", but once light shines through they come alive. Evac has pretty good articulation with standard neck and waist, and universal shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees, plus the tail-cape halves can swing up and the backpack is articulated so it can move up behind his head; the waist won't turn until you lift up the hip panels, but then it and everything else is unrestricted. Poseability is very good, although standing straight up he leans back slightly. The weapons start with the winch under his right arm, push the button and it recoils the string; the rotor-spinner on the side of his left arm, the blades can be folded from 4 to 2 and the whole array can be removed; the tail-cape halves apparently move to the up position for attack mode, I guess the tail rotors make some wind attack; and the backpack goes from jet thrusters to pointing straight up, you can then lift the backpack up behind the head to fire the missiles in a ballistic trajectory at around 30 degrees, or lift it all the way up over the head so it becomes a hat that fires straight forward.

Overall, this is another very good addition to this line, outstanding without being needlessly flashy, substance over style. He's a fun toy and a cool figure, another really good Transformer and one of the best TF copters ever.

TF:CY Leobreaker - it's taken me quite a while to review the underwhelming Leobreaker, I don't hate him but he's just not good enough I suppose. Alt mode is a lion, dull gold with white, off-black, brown, and green accents in color, and there's plenty of sculpted detail but some feels chunky like they up-sized a smaller figure. The rear upper legs are disproportionately long, but otherwise it's a fairly adequate techno-lion. The figure has standard elbows/knees and front hips, hinged ankles and a second hinge on the front feet, the rear hips are 1-click limited universal joints, the front forelimbs can rotate, and the mouth drops down slightly when you press the green button on the head, the tail and head aren't articulated at all; there's also a hinge in the middle of the shoulder, makes it look like the limb broke in half, I don't think it has any practical use in alt mode. I didn't even bother putting the batteries in to hear the sound effect, I hear it's just a simple snarling sound, if they had made the eyes light up too I would have gone for it though, but alas. The main gimmick is sticking the key into either forelimb causes a large claw on it to drop down over the hands, it doesn't look especially good stowed or over the paws though.

Transformation to bot mode avoids the classic "stand up, you're a robot" syndrome by having the front half of the lion on 2 arms which let it uncouple from the body and change orientation so the lion head is now where the bottom of the chest used to be, I like it but it's a little too close to being a Lego part (totally removed for transformation, which I don't generally approve of). The limbs are just straightened out, the head is revealed in a nifty way from the middle of the beast back, and I appreciate that there's not a gaping hole where the head came from, the neck is on a plate which seals it up.

Bot mode is alright but not spectacular, the head seems a little simple somehow, like they took a smaller head and scaled it up, it's not terrible but it could have had more depth or detail; the arms are definitely too long; but the shoulders are muscular without looking oversized so it's more humanoid. I think his build, especially with the shoulders, somehow give the impression that he's a big burly scrapper yet somehow still lesser than Optimus, like he's smaller than he actually is yet he isn't, and I like that. Unfortunately, the figure bombs out on articulation, he has a standard neck, shoulders, and forearms, the same limited uni-jointed hips, a sideways hinge in the middle of each shoulder/bicep, hinged elbows, wrists, ankles, and thumbs - it sounds like a lot more than it is, really, the neck is very limited, there's an ugly gap above the knees, the leg articulation is mainly worthless, and the standard shoulders kinda ruin the party for me, if they were universal I would have liked this figure a lot more, instead they tried to fudge uni-jointing by putting a hinge in the middle of his oversized shoulder - you could call it his bicep - so he can "flap" outwards, if you didn't use this articulation his arms whack right into the front of his hips and can't get past, this hinge makes it look like his upper arm has snapped in 2 with a lot of open space between the parts, it's total crap. The crappy shoulder situation and the lack of leg articulation bring this figure down a lot, it's a real shame. The tail weapon cannot be properly stowed, you can wedge it under the plate behind his butt or something, but it doesn't go anywhere besides in his hand, using a small peg into his palm. Key gimmick works the same, except now the hands are longer so the gimmick is even less impressive as the claws are barely longer than that. I want to like Leobreaker's robot mode, it has some things I like, but overall it's a frustration.

Transformation to happy arm buddy mode is negligible, from bot mode, stow the head, fold up the feet, remove the forearms and plug them into the feet... and voila, you've got a robot lion with no arms, or as Hasbro is trying to pass it off, a giant arm which can attach to Optimus or Megatron. It looks amazingly shoddy, there's no "hand" to speak of, you can move one of the heelspurs to be a thumb and pretend the bot forearms are giant fingers, but it just looks like a bot hanging off the side of another bot, any TF figure could have done this by simply adding the adapter peg. Plus, it's way too large on Optimus, Megatron's leg articulation isn't hardy enough to keep this contraption upright, and Leobreaker's forearms on his legs actually looks WORSE than if they hadn't been used at all, even the key gimmick's claws are adding NOTHING to the party. Leobreaker's adapter peg can rotate, slide, and the inner part of the peg can slide, I guess because the arm is so big it hits parts on Optimus while turning and has to be adjusted constantly.

Overall, I don't hate Leobreaker, but he's a disappointing figure and a waste of $20. Maybe if they hadn't wasted resources on electronics they could have afforded a better design with a real hand, or how about some real shoulder and leg articulation, but they didn't and the end result is underwhelming.

Darth Vader is becoming the Mickey Mouse of Star Wars.

Kylo Ren - came from Space Brooklyn, although he moved to Space Williamsburg before it was trendy.

The use of a lightsaber does not make one a Jedi, it is the ability to not use it.

so i FINALLY got the chance to contact hasbro about my "exclusive birth-defect alternator grimlock" (put together with two right hands) and they wanted to send me a return label to ship it to them, and they would send me back AN alternator, not guaranteeing that it would be the SAME alternator. they wouldn't just send me the part. i told them i didn't want to do that, and they asked me if i wanted any coupons, so i said yes to that. meh.